20 years of Musical Direction
Before our annual concerts in Bristol and Birmingham last year, we sat down with Musical Director Gareth to discuss what makes Changing Tunes concerts so special.
Having worked with Changing Tunes for over 20 years (congratulations!), you must have a lot of memories regarding some of your favourite moments at our concerts, what's been a highlight that springs to mind?
There are way too many to pick just one, but it is always the moment when our participants connect with the audience - and it’s a real, empathic sense of connection. Performers bring the usual nerves that come with performing but with an added sense of “will the audience judge me?”. Our audiences are always super supportive but it is also possible to have preconceptions about people who have been in prison. That all fades away when, right in front of you, is someone being vulnerable and open, and you realise that although our backgrounds and experiences are different we’re all kind of made of the same stuff. I’ve been to countless CT concerts and that never gets old.
What's something you would like people to know about our concerts that they might not already know?
Well.. people regularly come up at the end of a concert and say they wished they’d known how good it was going to be, or they should have brought friends with them. I can imagine if I didn’t know about Changing Tunes I would assume it’s a charity gig so I’d have low expectations, but it’s full of performances that are so honest and heart-felt, backed by the best musicians in town!
How much work goes into putting these concerts on? You must have it down to a fine art now after working for CT for so long!
You’d think so wouldn’t you! Over the last few years I've handed over running our annual concerts to others in the team who are doing an amazing job. The concert itself is a bit of a jigsaw, and the running order is often not finalised until a few minutes before we start. There’s a lot of coordinating ahead of time, but normally the performers won’t all be in the same room until the afternoon of the concert. We rehearse through the afternoon as people arrive from various parts of the country in time to go through their songs. It’s a full-on day but we’ve got an amazing team who will muck in and pick up whatever needs doing to make the rehearsal and concert flow smoothly.
As the man so often behind the camera interviewing, can you share with us any insight into how the participants feel regarding performing at our concerts?
There are the nerves that come with performing, and the excitement that concert day is here. For some it will be their first time performing with us outside prison. When they were doing our sessions inside this would have felt like a far-off goal, so there’s a sense that they’re almost pinching themselves that they’re here. Others may have performed with us many times before and be familiar to regulars in the audience. I think for them there is often a sense of “this is what I achieved last year, let’s aim higher this time”, and you can see that progression.
I’m always aware what a big deal it must be for someone to take to the stage where they are identifying as someone who has been in prison. They could choose to remain anonymous but they’re literally getting into the spotlight. In all our work the top priority is safety for all who take part, and although our concerts are about highlighting what we do, we are careful to support (not parade) our participants. So we do all we can to empower them to tell their stories how they want to, and remind them that Changing Tunes is here for them, not the other way round.
How would you describe our annual concerts to anyone who has never attended before?
The concerts are powerful, moving, really varied in terms of styles of music and people’s personal stories of the role music has played in their journey.
